Psychology: Literature Review

"A literature review is a document or section of a document that collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also called synthesis). The lit review is an important genre in many disciplines, not just literature (i.e., the study of works of literature such as novels and plays). When we say “literature review” or refer to “the literature,” we are talking about the research (scholarship) in a given field. You will often see the terms “the research,” “the scholarship,” and “the literature” used mostly interchangeably."

From Purdue OWL's Lit Review webpage

• Purdue OWL - Writing a Literature Review

  Defines what a literature review is, the contexts or different situations where one may be required, the segments of a lit review, and how it should be organized.
• University of Wisconsin Writing Center

  Includes a breakdown of the different parts of a lit review as well as some examples to view.
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Writing Center

  UNC Chapel Hill's Writing Center guide to composing the lit review. It highlights how a lit review differs from an academic paper and provides writing tips.

Starting Out

Typically a literature review will fall after the Introduction section of a paper, and before the Research Methods. In this scenario, a lit review will need to cover scholarly activity that is important to the topic you are writing on.

Alternatively, they can also be stand-alone assignments or publications. For a coursework assignment, a lit review may be assigned to assist students in familiarizing themselves to a specific topic in their subject or field, locate gaps in the research, or get a sense of the scholarly discussion surrounding the topic.

Sections of the Lit Review

Most reviews include a standard Introduction - Body - Conclusion format. However, if your literature is not stand-alone and is part of a larger paper, your introduction and conclusion will likely be very short, while the body will consist of most all of your written work.

When organizing you literature review, keep in mind the goal of the review. This will inform whether the organization will be

• Chronological - presenting the information over time as it develops. This will help familiarize the audience to the topic. If you choose to write in this manner try to avoid "listing" or purely summarizing your sources to your reader. Attempt to analyze any key debates, turning points, or patterns you have found in the literature.
• Thematic - if you locate patterns or themes with your lit review process, you can organize your paper into subsections that address those themes.
• Methodological - if during your research you draw from various disciplines and fields that use different search methods, you could section your lit review in a way that compares them. For example, "qualitative versus quantitative" or diving the research you located by 'sociological' or 'historical.
• Theoretical - for humanities articles the lit review is often the foundation for the theoretical framework. You could use this to discuss key concepts, models, and theories. You could even argue for a particular theoretical approach.

Information adapted from Purdue OWL's Writing Guide

Additional Writing Tips:

• Be sure that your research is thorough!
• Remember to create your annotated bibliography

• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship grant

  A brief example with some written commentary.
• Eternity and Mortality in Spinoza's Ethics

  A several-page literature review at the beginning of a published, academic article about philosophy